Topic
Water scarcity
About: Water scarcity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11579 publications have been published within this topic receiving 228756 citations. The topic is also known as: water shortage.
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TL;DR: The case of China shows that domestic trade, as governed by economics and governmental policies rather than by regional differences in water endowments, determines inter-regional water dependencies and may worsen rather than relieve the water scarcity in a country.
162 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the change in the delivery of three hydrological ecosystem services, one provisioning (water), and two regulating (water purification and erosion control), in the heavily humanized Llobregat River basin (Catalonia, NE Spain) in recently observed extreme wet and dry years.
162 citations
Book•
10 Jul 2009
TL;DR: In this article, the outlook for global food prices and their latest decline following a dizzying climb in recent years is explored and the likely future impact of climate change, energy security, water scarcity and competition for land, together with rising demand caused by increasing affluence and a rising global population.
Abstract: This report explores the outlook for global food prices and their latest decline following a dizzying climb in recent years. It assesses the likely future impact of climate change, energy security, water scarcity and competition for land, together with rising demand caused by increasing affluence and a rising global population.
162 citations
TL;DR: In this article, sustainable management of water resources for different uses will not only need to account for demand in water quantity, but also for water temperature and salinity, nutrient levels and other pollutants.
Abstract: Quality requirements for water differ by intended use. Sustainable management of water resources for different uses will not only need to account for demand in water quantity, but also for water temperature and salinity, nutrient levels and other pollutants.
160 citations
TL;DR: It is emphasized that green water is a critical and limited resource that should explicitly be part of any assessment of water scarcity, food security, or bioenergy potential, and is quantified at 5 × 5 arc-minute spatial resolution.
Abstract: Green water––rainfall over land that eventually flows back to the atmosphere as evapotranspiration––is the main source of water to produce food, feed, fiber, timber, and bioenergy. To understand how freshwater scarcity constrains production of these goods, we need to consider limits to the green water footprint (WF g ), the green water flow allocated to human society. However, research traditionally focuses on scarcity of blue water––groundwater and surface water. Here we expand the debate on water scarcity by considering green water scarcity (WS g ). At 5 × 5 arc-minute spatial resolution, we quantify WF g and the maximum sustainable level to this footprint (WF g,m ), while accounting for green water requirements to support biodiversity. We then estimate WS g per country as the ratio of the national aggregate WF g to the national aggregate WF g,m . We find that globally WF g amounts to 56% of WF g,m , and overshoots it in several places, for example in countries in Europe, Central America, the Middle East, and South Asia. The sustainably available green water flows in these countries are mostly or fully allocated to human activities (predominately agriculture and forestry), occasionally at the cost of green water flows earmarked for nature. By ignoring limits to the growing human WF g , we risk further loss of ecosystem values that depend on the remaining untouched green water flows. We emphasize that green water is a critical and limited resource that should explicitly be part of any assessment of water scarcity, food security, or bioenergy potential.
160 citations